Bodor finds home in Hawaii

End Zone

Amazing job If the Sky Sox can hang on and make the playoffs for the
first time since 1997, it'll be a huge tribute to manager Stu Cole,
who arrived in June and has dealt with constant roster changes. (The
Sox have fielded 27 total pitchers this season.)

Good change Quietly, Comcast has adjusted its digital lineup, adding
ESPNU (with many college football and basketball games) on channel
175 and switching ESPN Classic (176) to its separate sports tier.

Top priority When the Denver Broncos play their second preseason game
Saturday at Seattle, watch for improvement (or not) in the run
defense, which was lacking at San Francisco.

Early start Colorado State University-Pueblo, with numerous players
from the Colorado Springs area, kicks off its football season at 7
p.m. Aug. 29, at home against Eastern New Mexico.

Bob Bodor knows all too well what he would have been doing
this week.

His seventh Colorado College football team would have started
preseason practices, leading toward the season opener Sept. 12 at
Pomona-Pitzer. And each day, as he had done countless times while he
was CC's head coach, he would have looked up from the practice field
and marveled at the sight of Pikes Peak.

Instead, Bodor has a different view now. He's 4,000 miles away on
the Hawaiian island of Kauai, coaching on a field that overlooks the
Pacific Ocean.

"I never got bored of looking at Pikes Peak every day," he says.
"But even though it's pretty warm over here right now, the breezes are
prominent and the view is remarkable."

Obviously, this stop wasn't part of Bodor's career plan. But after
CC decided in late March to kill football, along with women's softball
and water polo, Bodor needed a job at a time when football openings
already are filled.

He wound up as defensive coordinator at Kapa'a, one of Kauai's three
high schools. It's not exactly a football factory, having gone without
a Kauai island title for 20 years. Since arriving there in early July,
though, Bodor has leaped into his new challenge.

Last weekend, the Kapa'a Warriors opened their pre-conference
schedule with a 16-0 victory over Kalani, a Honolulu school, and
Bodor's defense allowed only two first downs in a dominating
performance. After another nonleague game, Kapa'a will enter conference
play, facing its two Kauai rivals three times. Each island's champion
makes the playoffs.

"It's definitely a different format than you usually see," Bodor
says. "But I've seen tape of our opponents, and it's a high quality of
football. They send a lot of kids from here to play at Division II and
D-III schools in Oregon and California. I'm learning plenty from the
coaches here, too.

"And when the games start, it doesn't matter what the level of
competition is."

You have to admire Bodor, embracing such a radical change at 43. He,
wife Bridget and their younger kids are adjusting quickly, with
their older daughter having just started college on the mainland.

But this conversation can't be just about Kapa'a. It still has to be
about Colorado College, because Bodor can't forget his staff and nearly
40 players who don't have each other as part of a team anymore.

"I talk to players every day," starting with upperclassmen, he says.
One all-conference defensive back, Brendan Ross of Colorado
Springs (Pine Creek), transferred to league foe Trinity. Defensive
lineman Alpha Anders of California went back to his home state
at Pomona-Pitzer. Luke Northam, a local running back from
Classical Academy, is staying at CC and playing basketball.

Others, like senior fullback Sean Farrell and placekicker
Tyler Brickell, another Springs kid, have chosen to remain at CC
though their football dreams are gone.

"It's really sad for Sean, because he could play for any D-III
school in the country," Bodor says. "But I feel for all those guys
without football anymore. I hope the school realizes this isn't over
just because the program is gone. It's a new chapter, and CC has to
figure out how to take care of them, and the athletes in the other
sports. They're the real victims in this. The decision is over, but a
lot of young people are really hurting still."

As for Bodor, he's taking the high road, focusing on the future, not
the immediate past.

"I just hope the college can make it work, figure out a way to offer
an education that includes diversity at all levels —
socioeconomic, racial — without those sports," he says. "I also
hope they figure out a way to keep the alumni in the fold, because CC
has a lot of football alumni who are just tremendous people.

"I will definitely be following college football, especially the
Colorado schools, starting with Air Force because [head coach] Troy
Calhoun was always so nice to me. It hurts, but I'm looking at this
personally as a positive. I'm still coaching, that's the bottom line,
and the kids here have big goals and that feels great. The minute I
show up at school, that's my comfort zone. I'm sitting here in Hawaii,
experiencing something I never would've done otherwise."